Trolley for brushing and rubbing-down ships&#39; hulls in dry dock



Oct. 8, 1968 C. SIERRA ET AL TROLLEY FOR BRUSHING AND RUBBING-DOWN SHIPSHULLS IN DRY DOCK Filed May 9, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Q Char/29S/erra z/ A 1/ ,l I'll/1111a l a/fig 'p Oct. 8, 1968 SERRA ET AL3,404,653

TROLLEY FOR BRUSHING AND RUBBING-DOWN SHIPS BULLS IN DRY DOCK Filed May9, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS HULLS IN DRY DOCK Oct. 8, 1968 c.SIERRA T -DOWN SHIPS TROLLEY FOR BRUSHING AND RUBBING 6 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed May 9, 1966 INVENTQRS Char/es 5m pier/e Pmce OCt. 8 1968 c SERRAET AL 3,404,653

TROLLEY FOR BRUSHING AND RUBBING-DOWN SHIPS HULLS IN DRY DOCK Filed May9, 1966 e Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS' Char/as 5 119/712 pier/e P/ace Oct.8, 1968 c, SERRA ET AL 3,404,653

TROLLEY FOR BRUSHING AND RUBBING-DOWN SHIPS HULLS IN DRY DOCK Filed May9, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS (liar/es Srrfia Pier/e T /hoe Oct. 8,1968 Q SERRA ET AL 3,404,653

TROLLEY FOR BRUSHING AND RUBBINGDOWN SHIPS HULLS IN DRYDOCK Filed May 9,1966 1 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORS Char/e5 5 raw/1a p/er/"e P/mce UnitedStates Patent 3,404,653 TROLLEY FOR BRUSHING AND RUBBlNG-DOWN SHIPSHULLS IN DRY DOCK Charles Sierra, 24 Square Belsince, and Pierre Pince,60 Blvd. Testaniere, both of Marseille, France Filed May 9, 1966, Ser.No. 586,311 Claims priority, appliclatioizlfrance, May 10, 1965, 6 4

9 Claims. (31. 114-222 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present inventionrelates to a trolley for brushing and rubbing-down the hulls of ships indry clock. It relates more precisely to improvements in a brushing andrubbingdown trolley in which the brushing and rubbing-down tool is acircular brush movable in rotation about an axis perpendicular to theworking surface of the brush, and carried by a moving arm by which thebrush can be brought into contact with the surface to .be cleaned andpermitting the brush to be progressively moved from left to right orfrom right to left over this surface during the brushing operation.

This type of trolley makes it possible in particular to brush andrub-down in dry dock the part of the surface of a ships hull which islocated below the bilge keels, in other words, the brushing andrubbing-down of the outside of the bottom of a ship, including therounded portions.

This brushing operation is carried out step by step over successiveareas. To brush-down one area, the operator brings the brush intocontact with the surface to be brushed, holds the trolley stationary andsets the brush in rotation, while at the same time he pivots the armwhich carries it, for example through 180, in order to move the brushover a certain area of the surface to be worked. The brush thus cleansan area which has the form of a part of a ring, the width of the areadepending on the diameter of the brush and its length depending on thepivotal angle of the arm, the portion of ring being for example ahalf-ring for a pivotal movement of 180".

After brushing an area of this kind, the operator must displace thetrolley in order to bring the brush into a position such that it will beable to sweep a new area adjacent to the first. He then stops thetrolley and sets the brush in rotation, at the same time causing the armto pivot in order that the brush can clean the new area, and so on.

Such an operation of the brushing machine makes it necessary for thetrolley to be provided with means for controlling the movement of thetrolley and means permitting the control of the pivotal movement of thearm which carries the brush.

In a known form of construction, these control means are reduced to apush-bar which an operator pushes to move the trolley and a leveractuated by the operator to cause the arm to pivot which carries thebrush. Under these conditions, the operator can move the trolley as hewishes and can cause the arm to pivot, and he must be particularlyattentive in carrying out these movements in such manner that thedisplacement of the trolley corresponds to the diameter of the brush, sothat the new working position of the brush is effectively contiguous toits former working position and that there is no unbrushed surface ofthe hull between two brushed surfaces, and in such manner that themovement of the brush in an area is progressive and smooth.

This results in practice in the serious drawbacks that the quality ofthe brushing depends to a large extent on the attention and skill of theoperator and that the efliciency of the brushing machine is reduced bythe idle times devoted to checking the successive positions occupied bythe brush and to their correction when so required.

A first object of the invention thus relates to a brushing trolleyequipped with simple and robust operating means, adequate to controlprecisely the displacement of the trolley in dependence on the diameterof the brush.

According to the invention, these operating means comprise essentiallytwo systems with hand-wheels and gears suitably mounted on the trolleyand in kinematic coupling with the arm carrying the brush on the onehand and with the driving wheel or wheels of the trolley on the other.

The invention is also directed to another feature intended to improvethe work of the operators by providing easier observation of the brushedsurface.

According to the invention, the brush is equipped with a surroundingmember which protects the operators from the materials detached by thebrush -firom the wall on which it is working.

This anti-projection surrounding member may be a kind of oval orpolygonal mat mounted round the brush so as to be applied against thewall, round the zone of action of the brush but Without interfering withthe operation of this latter.

The surrounding member may be fixed on a plate arranged under the brush,so as to form a sleeve which surrounds the brush.

In order to prevent the accumulation of material between the rotatingbrush and its surrounding member, the invention provides, in theappropriate portion of the plate, orifices permitting the evacuation ofthe materials detached from the brushed area and caught by thesurrounding mat.

The materials pass through these orifices at a low speed which dependsessentially on the pressure of accumulation, and are not subjected tothe action of the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of thebrush. For this reason, they are not projected through the orifices ofthe plate but pass through them substantially as if they were passingthrough the meshes of a sieve.

According to a further particular feature of the invention, a bag orother receptacle may be arranged under the plate so as to receive thematerials detached.

It is clear that such protection for the operators is particularlyvaluable during the brushing of hulls which have received surfaceapplications of poisonous anti-fouling paints, since failing specialprecautions such as the 0perators wearing masks, the latter would beexposed to poisoning by the projection of certain parts of the poisonouscoating detached and reduced to dust during the brushing-down operation.

In fact, the invention results in a brushing trolley which is easy touse and reliable in operation and which can be entrusted to operatorswithout any special training.

The description which follows below will make it easier to understandhow the invention may be carried out in practice, reference being madeto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a known type of brushing trolley;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a brushing trolley of the same general type asthat shown in FIG. 1, but which is pro- 3 vided with mechanical controlsand a brush surrounding member in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the trolley shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view of the interior of the mechanical control station, theviewing plane being vertical and parallel to the width of the trolley;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of this station taken along a horizontal planepassing through the line V-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section of this station taken along a vertical planepassing through the line VI-VI of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view of the underside of the trolley of the invention in theregion of the rear wheels located under the control station;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal section taken along the axis of the drivingshaft providing the pivotal movement of the carrier-arm of the brush;

FIG. 9 is a vertical section showing the mounting of the arm pivot onthe trolley; and

FIG. 10 is a view of the underside of the trolley in the region of thefront wheels.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a brushing trolley of a known type describedin French Patent No. 1,393,901 filed on May 11, 1964.

This trolley comprises a chassis I mounted on wheels and carrying apivot 2 which is rotatable about a vertical axis and at the extremity ofwhich is articulated an arm 3 which carries a fork 4, on which issuspended a motor 5 and a circular brush 6 mounted on the motor shaft.The arm 3 rests on a cradle 7 when the brushing machine is not workingand it can be lifted by pivotal movement about the horizontal shaft 8 bymeans of a jack 9 which is supported on the rear of the pivot 2.

The jack is hydraulically operated from a pump which forms part of anoperating group 10.

The means for controlling the movement of the trolley and the pivotalrotation of the pivot 2 are reduced in this known type of trolley to anarm 11 which serves to push the trolley, and to an arm 12 which is movedfrom left to right or vice-versa in order to rotate the pivot 2 and inconsequence the arm 3 which carries the brush.

Such control means have the disadvantages which have already beendescribed above, and the present invention provides for theirreplacement by other controls which will be described below withreference to FIGS. 2 to 10.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, which show this trolley respectively in side view andin plan, the parts which correspond to parts of the trolley of FIG. 1are indicated by identical numerical references followed by a prime.

Thus there are again seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 the pivot 2 mounted on thechassis 1' so as to be able to pivot about a vertical axis, the arm 3articulated on the pivot so as to be able to pivot about a horizontalaxis, a stirrup member 4 at the extremity of the arm 3 so as to be ableto rotate about the axis of the arm, a motor 5' carried by the stirrup4' so as to be able to pivot about an axis defined by the stirrup, and abrush 6 carried by the motor 5' which can drive it in rotation about anaxis which is in principle perpendicular to the working surface of thebrush.

As distinct from the trolley of FIG. 1, the jack 9' mounted between thepivot 2 and the arm 3 is supported in front of the pivot which leavesfree the part of the trolley located behind the pivot and makes itpossible to install in this position a driving set 22 serving as theprimary source of energy for actuating the pump or pumps forpressurizing and circulating the driving fluid for operating the jackand the hydraulic motor which rotates the brush. In the knownarrangement, the mounting of the jack did not permit the provision of adriving set of this kind, and the energy necessary for the operation ofthe hydraulic pump was brought in by electric cables from a source ofelectrical energy external to the trolley, these cables having thedisadvantages of limiting the complete freedom of movement of thetrolley.

in FIGS. 2 and 3 it can also be seen that the brush 6' is surroundedaccording to the invention by a protection ring 22 fixed to a plate 15which is fixed with respect to the motor but which is pierced at itscentre to provide a passage for the shaft of the brush. In addition,this plate 15 is pierced with a plurality of orifices 14 for theevacuation through the plate of the material detached from the wall tobe cleaned by the brush during the course of working of the said brush.

The brushing machine is provided according to the invention with astation of manual controls located at the rear of the trolley and ofwhich FIG. 3 shows the casing 16 and three operating hand-wheels 17, 18and 19, which are at the disposal of two operators for which the seats20 and 21 have been provided.

In the form of construction shown, the left-hand operator is responsiblefor the manual control of the sweeping by the rear left-hand hand-wheel17, while the right-hand operator operates the manual control of themovement of the trolley by the right-hand side hand-wheel 19 (with theright hand) and the manual operation of the direction of movement of thetrolley by the rear right-hand handwheel 18 (with the left hand).

The left-hand hand-wheel 17 provides the control of the pivotal movementof the brush 6 so as to cause this brush to describe an arc of a circleabout the vertical axis of the pivot 2', the brush then sweeping out aring-shaped zone, a part of which is indicated at 23 in FIG. 3.

This control is effected by means of a transmission which will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 8 and 9.

As can be seen from these figures, the hand-wheel 17 rotates a shaft 24(FIG. 5) which carries a pinion 25, the end of the shaft being suitablymounted in a bearing 26 bolted on the casing of the manual controlstation.

The pinion co-operates with the links of a chain 28 (FIG. 4) which alsopasses into the interior of the manual control station over a pinion 29suitably arranged for that purpose. The chain passes out of the stationby an orifice 30 pierced in the base wall of the station and passesround the pinion 31 (FIG. 8) located under the station, and which isthus rotated by the chain in response to the action of the hand-wheel17. This pinion 31 is rigidly fixed to one extremity of a shaft 32 heldin position by several bearings, and the other extremity of whichcarries a screw 33 which engages the horizontal toothed wheel 34 rigidlyfixed to the pivot 2' (FIG. 9).

By means of the shaft 24, the pinion 25, the chain 28, the pinion 31,the shaft 32, the screw 33 and the wheel 34, the hand-wheel 17 rotatesthe pivot 2', and, in the example shown, the teeth and the chain arechosen in such manner that four revolutions of the hand-wheel 17 cause apivotal movement of the pivot 2' over an :arc of about 180, or 90 oneach side of the axis of the trolley. This pivotal movement of the pivotobviously produces a corresponding pivotal movement of the brush 6'which is coupled to the pivot by the arm 3'.

Col-relatively to this control of the pivotal movement of the brush, acontrol is provided for the movement of the trolley such that tworevolutions of the hand-wheel 19 permit the trolley to be moved by alength equal in principle to the diameter of the brush, this diameterbeing about 600 mm. in the case of the trolley illustrated.

This control of the movement of the trolley by the righthand sidehand-wheel 19 is effected by means of a transmission which will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7.

As can be seen from these figures, the hand-wheel 19 (FIG. 5) rotates afirst shaft 35 which carries a first toothed wheel 36. This wheel drivesa second toothed wheel 37 carried by a second shaft 38 on which is fixeda third toothed wheel 39 which drives a fourth toothed wheel 40 fixed ona third shaft 41 which carries a pinion 42. The pinion 42 serves todrive a chain 43 (FIG. 6) which also passes into the manual controlstation over a further pinion 44. The various shafts are of coursesuitably carried by bearings.

The chain 43 passes out of the casing of the control station throughperforations 45 and 46 (FIG. 6) and passes round a pinion 47 (FIG. 7)rigidly fixed to a shaft 48 carried by appropriate bearings, and onwhich are mounted the rear wheels 49 and 50 of the trolley.

By means of the shaft 35, the toothed wheel 36, the toothed wheel 37,the shaft 38, the toothed wheel 39, the toothed wheel 40, the shaft 41,the pinion 42, the chain 43, the pinion 47 and the shaft 48, theright-hand side hand wheel rotates the rear wheels of the trolley andthe ratios of the various gears together with the length of the chainare chosen in such manner that two revolutions of the hand-wheel 19cause a movement of the trolley over a length corresponding to thediameter of the brush, as has already been stated.

The operator who controls and regulates the movement of the trolley byturning the hand-wheel 19 can also regulate the direction of themovement by acting on the hand-wheel 18 which is placed in front of him.This handwheel 18 rotates a shaft 51 (FIG. 5) which carries a disc 52arranged to act on a transmission cable contained in a sheath 53 (FIG.4) and which actuates a system of rotating members (FIG. comprising adisc contained in a casing 54 and on which the cable acts, a shaft 55which rotates with the disc, an endless screw 56 which rotates with theshaft 55, a toothed crown wheel 57 driven by the screw 56 and which actsin turn on the steering of the front wheels 58 and 59 by means of amechanical transmission of a type known per se for the control of thesteering of the two wheels of a set of wheels.

In addition to the purely mechanical controls of the movements, thebrushing trolley is further provided with controls for the operation ofthe jack 9' (FIG. 9) and of t the hydraulic motor 5 which drives thebrush. Knobs located on the rear dash-board of the trolley enable theoperators to regulate the conditions of circulation of the drivingfluids which circulate in various conduits which are shown on thedrawings.

In the preferred example of construction which is described andillustrated, the trolley is provided with a diesel engine of 11 HP.(3,000 r.p.m.) adapted to drive a pump which delivers oil under apressure of 100 kg./sq. cm. This oil is utilized on the one hand toactuate the jack and on the other to operate the hydraulic motor of thebrush, the oil then circulating in a closed circuit. A flow regulator atthe pump outlet enables the appropriate ranges of oil pressure to beobtained for the operation of the jack and for the hydraulic motor. Atrolley thus equipped is a perfectly independent operating unit.

The cleaning tool is generally a circular brush, as in the case of theexample shown, but provision is made for the replacement of this brushby any other kind of cleaning tool which would be mounted on theextremity of the trolley arm under conditions similar to those of thepresent brush, the movement of the trolley being then such as tocorrespond to a movement of the tooth which brings the latter to work ina zone contiguous with that which has already been cleaned.

Finally, without thereby departing from the scope of the presentinvention, modifications of detail may be made to the mechanicaltransmission which has been described by way of examples which arepreferred because they are reliable, robust and easily adjusted.

What we claim is:

1. A mobile cleaning trolley for mechanically cleaning walls, especiallyfor cleaning the outer surface of the hull of a ship, by means of arotating cleaning tool, said trolley comprising: a chassis mounted onwheels, a pivot mounted on said chassis so as to be capable of rotatingabout an axis, an arm articulated on said pivot, a rotary cleaning toolcarried by said arm, a hand-wheel adapted to rotate said pivot,transmission means between said pivot and said hand-wheel, a furtherhand-wheel adapted to move said trolley and a further transmission mean:between said further hand-wheel and at least certain 01 the wheels ofsaid trolley.

2. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, in which said trans mission meanscomprises a shaft coupled to said handwheel, a pinion fixed on saidshaft, a chain driven by said pinion and adapted to drive anotherpinion, anothe1 shaft driven in rotation by said other pinion, anendless screw rotating with said other shaft, and a toothed crown wheeldriven by said endless screw and rigidly fixed to said pivot.

3. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, in which said further transmissionmeans comprises a train of gears rotated by said further hand-wheel andcomprising a pinion driving a chain, said chain driving another pinionso as to rotate a shaft carrying the rear wheels of said trolley.

4. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, in which said rotary cleaning tooldetaches material from the wall being cleaned and propels the materialradially outwardly, a ring surrounding and fixed with respect to saidtool, said ring being radially spaced fro-m the periphery of said tooland said ring serving to deflect the material propelled by said tool,and a plate beneath and displaceable with said tool, said plate carryingsaid ring and having orifices for evacuation of the material detachedfrom the wall by said tool and deflected by said ring.

5. A mobile brushing trolley for mechanically cleaning walls, especiallyfor cleaning the outer surfaces of the hulls of ships by means of arotary brushing machine, said trolley comprising: a chassis mounted onwheels, a pivot mounted on said chassis so as to be capable of rotationabout a vertical axis, an arm articulated on said pivot about ahorizontal axis, a jack mounted between said pivot and said arm, acircular brush carried by said arm and adapted to be rotated about anaxis perpendicular to the working surface of said brush, a hand-wheeladapted to rotate said pivot about said vertical axis, transmissionmeans between said pivot and said hand-wheel, a further hand-wheelrotation of which causes the movement of said trolley, and transmissionmeans between said further hand-wheel and at least certain of the wheelsof said trolley.

6. A trolley as claimed in claim 5, in which said transmission meanscomprises a shaft coupled to said handwheel, a pinion fixed on saidshaft, a chain driven by said pinion and driving another pinion, anothershaft rotated by said other pinion, an endless screw rotating with saidother shaft and a toothed crown wheel driven by said endless screw andrigidly fixed to said pivot.

7. A trolley as claimed in claim 5, in which said further transmissionmeans comprises a train of gears rotated by said further hand-wheel, andcomprising a pinion driving a chain, said chain driving another pinionso as to rotate a shaft which carries the rear wheels of said trolley.

8. A trolley as claimed in claim 5, in which said brush is surrounded bya ring fixed with respect to said brush and which prevents lateralprojection of the material detached by the brush from the wall which itcleans, said ring being carried by a plate displaceable with the brushand provided with orifices for the evacuation of the material detachedfrom the wall by said brush.

9. A trolley as claimed in claim 5, in which said brush is rotated by ahydraulic motor also carried by said arm, the operation of said motorbeing effected by a pump carried on the chassis and which also effectsthe operation of said jack.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 854,188 5/1907 Weber 280-250FOREIGN PATENTS 1,393,901 2/1965 France.

EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner.

